


Coming home

by diet_affection



Series: Writings from tumblr [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: As in post time-skip Keith, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hugs, Insecurity, Keith coming home, Lance (Voltron) Angst, M/M, Older Keith, Season 6 Fix-It, Space Whale - Freeform, Time whale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-13 07:03:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16012754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diet_affection/pseuds/diet_affection
Summary: Keith is finally home, but something is different. Lance wants back what they once had.





	Coming home

**Author's Note:**

> Reupload from my [tumblr (nsfw)](https://keith-in-shibari.tumblr.com)

“Seriously, though … you look different.”

Lance eyed Keith with a faint smile, taking in his height, the broadness of his shoulders, and the way his jaw was set with determination. He looked older. It suited him, made him look roughened and mature, with the bearing of a leader. But his eyes were tired.

“I guess,” Keith said dismissively, glancing over at the map on the screen. Lance shuffled his feet. There were a good two meters between them. It felt strange, this new distance, like the person across from him was almost a stranger. Or the faded impression of someone he once knew.

No, Lance thought.

That wasn’t how this was supposed to be.

He’d thought about Keith returning more times than he cared to admit. He was supposed to come jogging towards them, a grin flashing across his face before he caught himself, slowed down and ruffled his hair awkwardly. Lance would walk up to him and make a joke to diffuse the tension, before throwing his arms around a surprised Keith and hugging him tight. And they’d return to their lighthearted bickering, interspersed with badass stories from the Blades that Keith would tell with a slight smirk, and maybe Lance would experimentally drop a few flirtatious lines to see how the other would react to that development.

This was just wrong.

Biting his lip, Lance stepped closer to Keith, dropping the smile that hadn’t felt real anyway.

“Are you okay? I mean - how long were you in there?”

Keith shrugged, still not looking at him.

“We don’t know exactly. But it was a long time.”

“Yeah. No kidding. You’re taller than me now? And you’re, like …”

“Like what, Lance?”, Keith sighed.

“Like, all rugged and burly and –“

He wanted to say hot, but two things stopped him. Firstly, that would have been embarrassing as fuck, and secondly – it didn’t feel like this was the moment. Keith was barely seeing him.

What had happened to them?

Something stung in Lance’s chest, dripping into his veins like acid. It was all different now. The team had changed. Allura was leading the Coalition. Hunk had taken on the role as diplomat with impressive ease. Pidge had found newborn strength by reuniting with her family. Even Coran, who Lance felt some team members gave too little credit, had proven to be a vital resource for the team lately. 

And now Keith had returned from months – in Lance’s timeline anyway – of being apart from them; fighting, grieving, laughing, living in a space where Lance couldn’t reach. It had changed him, no doubt. He’d had failures Lance could never tease him about, and won fights he couldn’t praise.

And Lance himself? He was still the same, wasn’t he? Every time he took a step forward, he slipped on the stairs and tumbled back down. It hurt every time. He’d activated the sword in his bayard, but hadn’t been able to awaken it since that one time. He’d finally gotten serious about his crush, only to be turned down, excruciatingly gently. He’d realized his feelings for Keith, and now even that bond had warped into something he couldn’t recognize. 

He was nothing new. He was just … him. Not a brave warrior or a brilliant pilot, but a boy from Cuba, all goofy and naïve, awkward and insecure.

“What’s wrong?”

Keith’s voice brought his head back up.

“Nothing.”

“You’re crying.”

“What? I’m not –“

Lifting his hands to quickly wipe away the warm liquid running down his face, Lance sniffed and turned away. How embarrassing. He must seem a child to Keith at this point.

“I’m just …”

He tried to breathe normally through the tight pain in his lungs.

“I miss you. I mean, how it used to be. Between us.”

“Really?”

It stung. He knew he was being silly, but it still hurt to not hear those words back.

“I seem to remember a lot of silly arguments and a certain … needless rivalry.”

Lance’s eyes snapped back up at the gentle humor in his tone. Finally, Keith was looking at him.

“You used to make fun of my hair. And my jacket. And everything about me.”

“Oooh, right. I’m sorry about that, I guess,” Lance laughed half-heartedly, drying the last tears.

The curl of Keith’s lips was barely a smile, but it stayed as he kept talking. Behind the exhaustion in his eyes, there was a gentleness he’d never seen before.

“I didn’t mind. I’ve always liked fighting, you know. Getting into trouble. I think it was an outlet for a lot of things for me. It isn’t necessarily healthy, but – I don’t know.”

Dumbfounded, Lance watched emotions hesitantly play out across Keith’s face.

“Are you trying to thank me for picking on you?”

“No,” Keith breathed, and that was an actual smile on his lips.

“I’m just trying to say it’s okay. I mean – without it we would have never become friends, right?”

Oh.

His heart thumped almost painfully.

“Hah. Yeah, that’s true,” he chuckled, a sudden giddiness bubbling up in his stomach. He leaned forward to punch the other’s shoulder playfully.

“You’re welcome, mullet.”

“Seriously?”, Keith said, smile growing until he saw a flash of sharp teeth, which made Lance’s brain go, oh that’s cooool. That’s very cool.

“I thought we could skip right to the friendship part, this time.”

Lance’s hand had somehow not moved away from Keith’s shoulder. Swallowing his embarrassment and pulling him into a half-hug, he hummed.

“Well, I usually have to tease friends I haven’t seen in a while, but I guess I’ll make an exception for you.”

“I’m honored.”

Keith was still a bit stiff beneath his arm, and he had scars and scratches and tired lines under his eyes. But he was here. He was himself. And he was resting his hand lightly on Lance’s neck.

“You better be.”

Lance hid his face into the other’s shoulder and felt a wide smile split his face.

This time, it felt honest. It felt real.

**Author's Note:**

> [ My tumblr (nsfw)](https://keith-in-shibari.tumblr.com)


End file.
